System and method for estimating visual impressions of vehicles configured with external graphic messaging

ABSTRACT

An impression estimation system for estimating visual impressions of a plurality of vehicles configured with exterior graphic messaging. A mobile device application of each of a plurality of mobile devices associated with the plurality of vehicles generates vehicle mobility data. A computational platform includes a processor and program code which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to, with respect to each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles: (i) identify, using the vehicle mobility data, one or more of the road segments in which the vehicle was present; (ii) estimate, using the traffic volume data, a number of potential visual impressions of the vehicle within the road segments; (iii) determine an estimated number of visual impressions; (iv) generate visual impression information based at least in part upon the estimated number of visual impressions; and (v) cause display of the visual impression information.

This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/646,768, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ESTIMATINGVISUAL IMPRESSIONS OF VEHICLES CONFIGURED WITH EXTERNAL GRAPHICMESSAGING”, filed on Jul. 26, 2016, the content of which is herebyexpressly incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Businesses often attempt to increase consumer awareness by placingmessaging identifying or promoting products or services on mass transitvehicles (e.g., buses). Such messaging may also be conveyed byconfiguring the exteriors of a business' fleet or other vehicles withtext and/or graphics identifying the business and/or its products orservices. However, a business entity has no way of quantifying thevisual impressions of such messaging by potential consumers; that is,the business has no way of determining how many consumers actually viewthese messages.

Systems have been proposed for configuring vehicles with a messagingdevice (e.g., a display) capable of being updated with messages intendedfor viewing by occupants of other vehicles. In such systems the messagemay be changed more frequently when the system detects that the vehiclewith the messaging device is being slowed by traffic. However, suchsystems are unable to estimate how many other vehicles are capable ofviewing the messages.

SUMMARY

In general, the disclosure relates to a system and method for estimatingvisual impressions of vehicles configured with external graphicmessaging. Consider that a vehicle moving along a path from one locationto another, or positioned in a certain location, will be visible tooccupants of other vehicles which have travelled the same path or areotherwise within the same vicinity. These vehicle occupants will be in aposition to receive visual impression of the vehicle's aestheticappearance (e.g., make, model, color, year, or vehiclemessaging/advertising). Disclosed herein is a system and method ofattributing how many unique visual impressions a moving or non-movingvehicle receives for the purposes of, for example, advertising,marketing, or research.

In one particular aspect the disclosure pertains to a system forestimating visual impressions of a plurality of vehicles configured withexterior graphic messaging viewable by occupants of other vehicles. Thesystem includes a plurality of mobile devices associated with theplurality of vehicles, each of the plurality of mobile devices includinga mobile device application operative to acquire information relating tomobility of the vehicle (e.g., information relating to the location andspeed of the vehicle at various times). A server is configured toreceive vehicle mobility data generated by the mobile device applicationof each of the plurality of mobile devices. A database stores trafficvolume data in association with a plurality of road segments. Acomputational platform includes a processor and program code which, whenexecuted by the processor, causes the processor to, with respect to eachvehicle of the plurality of vehicles: (i) identify, using the vehiclemobility data, one or more of the plurality of road segments in whichthe vehicle was present; (ii) estimate, using the traffic volume data, anumber of potential visual impressions of the vehicle within the one ormore of the plurality of road segments; (iii) determine an estimatednumber of visual impressions by modifying the number of potential visualimpressions in accordance with an environmental filter wherein theenvironmental filter relates at least to an anticipated visibility ofthe vehicle to other vehicles present within the one or more of theplurality of road segments; (iv) generate visual impression informationbased at least in part upon the estimated number of visual impressions;and (v) provide the visual impression information for display by adisplay device.

In one implementation the processor is configured to, with respect toeach vehicle of the plurality of vehicles: (i) determine, based upon themobility data, sets of road segments traversed by the vehicle, and (ii)determine the number of potential impressions using portions of thetraffic volume data corresponding to the set of road segments. Theprocessor may also determine the estimated number of visual impressionsby determining a relationship between a speed of the vehicle within theone or more of the plurality of road segments at a given time and a freeflow speed of traffic within the segment at the given time.

The disclosure also relates to a method for estimating visualimpressions of a vehicle configured with exterior graphic messagingintended for viewing by occupants of other vehicles. The method includesreceiving, from an API gateway, vehicle mobility data included withinwireless signals generated by a mobile device configured with a mobiledevice application operative to acquire information relating to mobilityof the vehicle. The method further includes storing traffic volume datain association with a plurality of road segments and identifying, usingthe vehicle mobility data, one or more of the plurality of road segmentsin which the vehicle was present. A number of potential visualimpressions of the vehicle within the one or more of the plurality ofroad segments may be estimated using the traffic volume data. The methodalso includes determining an estimated number of visual impressions bymodifying the number of potential visual impressions in accordance withan environmental filter wherein the environmental filter relates atleast to an anticipated visibility of the vehicle to other vehiclespresent within the one or more of the plurality of road segments. Visualimpression information may then be displayed based at least in part uponthe estimated number of visual impressions.

In another aspect the disclosure pertains to a method for navigating avehicle configured with exterior graphic messaging intended for viewingby occupants of other vehicles. The method includes sending, from amobile device associated with the vehicle, wireless signals includingvehicle mobility data related to at least location of the vehicle at aplurality of times. The method further includes sending, from the mobiledevice, a request for a route recommendation for the vehicle wherein inresponse to the vehicle mobility data and traffic volume data one ormore route recommendations are determined. The route recommendationscorrespond to vehicle routes associated with a higher number of viewingimpressions of the exterior graphic messaging by the occupants of theother vehicles than other potential vehicle routes. The method alsoincludes receiving the route recommendations at the mobile device. Thevehicle may then be navigated in accordance with at least one of theroute recommendations.

The disclosure also describes a method for navigating a vehicleconfigured with exterior graphic messaging intended for viewing byoccupants of other vehicles. The method includes sending, from a mobiledevice associated with the vehicle, wireless signals including vehiclemobility data related to at least location of the vehicle at a pluralityof times. The method further includes sending, from the mobile device, arequest for a route recommendation for the vehicle wherein in responseto the vehicle mobility data and traffic volume data one or more routerecommendations are determined. The route recommendations may correspondto vehicle routes associated with a higher number of viewing impressionsof the exterior graphic messaging by the occupants of the other vehiclesthan other potential vehicle routes. The method also includes receivingthe route recommendations at the mobile device and optionally displayingthem as map overlays.

The teachings of the disclosure may also be applied to a systemincluding a plurality of vehicles having exteriors configured to conveymessaging to occupants of other vehicles. Each of the vehicles areconfigured with exterior graphic messaging associated with a product orservice and a plurality of mobile devices may be associated with theplurality of vehicles. In this context an impression estimation systemfor estimating visual impressions of the plurality of vehicles may beutilized. The impression estimation system may include a gateway API towhich is posted vehicle mobility data generated by a mobile deviceapplication of each of the plurality of mobile devices wherein themobility data includes data specifying locations of each of theplurality of vehicles at associated times. The impression estimationsystem may further include a database storing traffic volume data inassociation with a plurality of road segments. A computational platformis configured with a processor and program code which, when executed bythe processor, causes the processor to, with respect to each vehicle ofthe plurality of vehicles: (i) determine, based upon the mobility data,a set of road segments traversed by the vehicle; (ii) determine anestimated number of visual impressions using portions of the trafficvolume data corresponding to the set of road segments; (iii) generatevisual impression information based at least in part upon the estimatednumber of visual impressions; and (iv) provide the visual impressioninformation for display by a display device.

The teachings of the disclosure may be further applied to a systemincluding a plurality of vehicles having exteriors configured to conveymessaging to occupants of other vehicles. Each of the vehicles areconfigured with exterior graphic messaging associated with a product orservice. A plurality of mobile devices may be associated with theplurality of vehicles. In this context an impression estimation systemfor estimating visual impressions of the plurality of vehicles may beutilized. The impression estimation system may include a serverconfigured to receive vehicle mobility data generated by a mobile deviceapplication of each of the plurality of mobile devices and a databasestoring traffic volume data in association with a plurality of roadsegments. A computational platform may be configured to include aprocessor and program code which, when executed by the processor, causesthe processor to, with respect to each vehicle of the plurality ofvehicles: (i) identify, using the vehicle mobility data, one or more ofthe plurality of road segments in which the vehicle was present; (ii)estimate, using the traffic volume data, a number of potential visualimpressions of the vehicle within the one or more of the plurality ofroad segments; (iii) determine an estimated number of visual impressionsby modifying the number of potential visual impressions in accordancewith an environmental filter wherein the environmental filter relates atleast to an anticipated visibility of the vehicle to other vehiclespresent within the one or more of the plurality of road segments; (iv)generate visual impression information based at least in part upon theestimated number of visual impressions; and (v) provide the visualimpression information for display by a display device.

Additional aspects of the present disclosure are further described belowin conjunction with the drawings. It should be appreciated that allcombinations of the foregoing concepts and additional concepts discussedin greater detail below (provided such concepts are not mutuallyinconsistent) are contemplated as being part of the inventive subjectmatter disclosed herein. In particular, all combinations of claimedsubject matter appearing at the end of this disclosure are contemplatedas being part of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. Itshould also be appreciated that terminology explicitly employed hereinthat also may appear in any disclosure incorporated by reference shouldbe accorded a meaning most consistent with the particular conceptsdisclosed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is more fully appreciated in connection with thefollowing Detailed Description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings. The skilled artisan will understand that thedrawings primarily are for illustrative purposes and are not intended tolimit the scope of the inventive subject matter described herein. Thedrawings are not necessarily to scale; in some instances, variousaspects of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein may be shownexaggerated or enlarged in the drawings to facilitate an understandingof different features. In the drawings, like reference charactersgenerally refer to like features (e.g., functionally similar and/orstructurally similar elements).

FIG. 1 provides an overview of a system for estimating visualimpressions of vehicles configured with external graphic messaging andan associated representation of quantifiable visual impressionsassociated with a vehicle in the system.

FIG. 2 illustrates visual impressions corresponding to visualization ofa target vehicle with exterior graphic messaging.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an exemplary workflow performed by a mobiledevice application in conjunction with a system platform.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplary platform impressions and scoringprocess capable of being implemented by the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 provides an illustration of determination of a number of roadsegments traversed by a given vehicle.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for providingroute recommendations which maximize visual impressions of the vehiclewhen navigated.

FIG. 7 illustrates a graphical representation of quantified visualimpressions associated with a set of vehicle.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding componentsthroughout the several views of the drawings. Skilled artisans willappreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicityand clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example,the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggeratedrelative to other elements to help to improve understanding of variousembodiments of the present disclosure. Also, common but well-understoodelements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasibleembodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a lessobstructed view of these various embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 provides an overview of a system 10 for estimating visualimpressions of vehicles configured with external graphic messaging andan associated representation of quantifiable visual impressionsassociated with a vehicle in the system. As shown, the system 10includes an impressions computation platform 11 capable of receivinginformation from a plurality of mobile device applications 136associated with a plurality of vehicles 13 (represented in FIG. 1 by asingle mobile device application and a single vehicle, respectively).

In one embodiment a removable canvas bearing graphic messaging isapplied to each of the vehicles 13. In this way a given vehicle may beconfigured to convey different messaging over different time periods(e.g., the messaging conveyed by the vehicle may be changed every fewmonths). In one embodiment the removable canvas comprises one or morefilm-based panels or segments configured to adhere to exterior surfacesof the vehicles 13. For example, the removable canvas may be in the formof a vinyl wrap or other media wrap/adhesive. Alternatively, one or moreof the vehicles 13 may be equipped with digital signage capable ofconveying the desired messaging.

The mobile device application 136 associated with each vehicle 13 isgenerally executed by a mobile communication device owned or controlledby an operator of the vehicle. In other embodiments the mobile deviceapplications 136 may be executed by mobile communication devicesintegrated within the vehicles 13. As shown, the system 10 furtherincludes a database 14 containing a segment mile table 108, a historicaltraffic volume table 109 a and/or a real-time traffic volume data 109 b.

During operation of the system of FIG. 1, one or both of historical andreal time vehicle traffic volume for a geographic location (latitude andlongitude) are used in producing a value representing the number ofvehicles within a “road segment” within a distance of point A to pointB. Utilizing a mobile device application 136 and tracking GPS latitudeand longitude, time of day, and speed, while in a vehicle as it travelsfrom point A to point B, the platform 11 may cross reference thattravelled path with the calculated number of vehicles in multiple roadsegments making up the path of point A to point B based on thehistorical and real time traffic volume. The result is a quantifiableamount of visual impressions received from people in vehicles travellingby the target vehicle within the travelled road segments.

A parked vehicle can also derive from the calculated road segment. Inparticular, an estimate is made of the number of vehicles that havetravelled past the parked vehicle and a number of visual impressionsreceived by the parked vehicle is derived from the estimate.

FIG. 2 illustrates visual impressions corresponding to visualization ofa target vehicle with exterior graphic messaging. In FIG. 2 people 100in other vehicles are visually able to see 101 vehicle A's exteriorgraphic messaging 102. The people are in other vehicles 100 driving onthe same road in either direction or freeway/highway. As discussedabove, the exterior graphic messaging of Vehicle A 102 can be in theform of car vinyl wrap or other media wrap/adhesive, or viewable digitalsignage.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 3, which is a flow chart of anexemplary workflow performed by a mobile device application inconjunction with a system platform. In the example of FIG. 3, mobiledevice 103 sends, to a platform API gateway 105 using a combination ofGPS and cellular or Wi-Fi internet connectivity 104, GPS locationlatitude and longitude, speed, and time of day data for vehicle A every1/10 of a mile travelled in real time. If Internet connectivity becomesunavailable, the GPS data is stored on the mobile device application 136until Internet connectivity is re-established.

The API Gateway sends the data 106 to a database table 107 for storageand indexing of vehicle A location data. A segment mile database table108 exists via imported shape files converted into a segment mile table.The segment mile database table 108 is cross referenced 110 with thevehicle A GPS data 107 and with a traffic volume table 109 in order todetermine a number of cars and/or people are on the road for eachsegment driven 111. This in turn produces impressions per road segment112, which is stored in a database table for vehicle A 113. The storedimpressions information can be sent to any visualization system 114 andvisualized 115.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplary platform impressions and scoringprocess. As shown, the exemplary process begins with the mobile devicein vehicle A 115 sending GPS latitude and longitude, speed and time ofday data every 1/10 of a mile 116 via posting to an API 117, which inturn stores the data in a database table 118. Another database tableexists with segment mile data 122 derived from imported shape files(shp) correlating segment ID's with a certain mile distance. In order toimport the shape file into the database, it is typically necessary toparse out the shape file into a comma separated file (csv) so as toimport the data into the database. A separate database table holdstraffic volume information indexed by segment ID 123. By referencing thesegment mile table and the traffic volume data, a segmented trafficvolume 124 can be derived. Combining 126 vehicle A GPS data 119segmented traffic volume 125 and applying an environmental filter 121,an output is generated that is obtainable via an API 128 and thusretrievable 129 as a presentable set of impression data for vehicle A130.

FIG. 5 provides an illustration of determination of a number of roadsegments traversed by and associated with a given vehicle A. In theexample of FIG. 5, the road segments 131 132 and 133 each represent aroad segment of 15 minutes. Each road segment 131 132 and 133 is definedin a segment mile database table 122, which is indexed by road segmentID 122. As vehicle A travels through each road segment which, again, isa representation of 15 minutes of distance, a percentage 134 of segmentcompletion by vehicle A is tracked. Each road segment may be associatedwith a number of vehicles 135 corresponding to, for example, the numberof vehicles within the road segment at a given time. This number ofvehicles may be determined in accordance with historical traffic data123, real-time traffic data, or some combination thereof. In thespecific case of FIG. 5, 3 road segments 131 132 and 133 have beentraversed by vehicle A, where segments 131 and 132 have been 100%travelled and segment 133 has been 50% travelled. Segment 131 has 2vehicles, segment 132 has 1 vehicle and segment 133 has 2 vehicles.Based on this segment traffic, vehicle A has received impressions from 4vehicles. This assumes an exemplary approach in which estimates of thetotal number of vehicles capable of viewing vehicle A with each segmentare added. Each such estimate may be obtained, for example, by using thepercentage of each segment travelled by vehicle A in conjunction withhistorical data concerning the number of vehicles present within therelevant portions of the segment at the relevant times (i.e., the timesat which vehicle A was positioned within various parts of the segment).Of course other approaches to estimating visual impressions within roadsegments may be used. For example, in some implementation it may besufficient to determine that a vehicle has simply been present within aroad segment in order for the vehicle to be accorded visual impressionscorresponding to some or all of the vehicles within the road segment.

The environmental filter 120 may take into consideration the distance avehicle can see vehicle A (e.g., 250 feet) and adjust the impressionvalue accordingly. For example, in the case of an estimated visibilityof 250 feet, those potential impressions associated with vehicles in thesegment more than 250 feet away from vehicle A are not counted indetermining the number of impressions for the segment. This filterednumber of impressions for the segment is then processed based on a scorefor vehicle A's miles that takes into account current speed as a ratioto free flow speed (traffic flow conditions) as well as time of day 104.

In some embodiments the environmental filter 120 may apply a formulabased on the traffic score to account for the reduced exchange of uniquevehicles which may occur during heavy to moderate traffic congestion, orduring night time driving (decreased visibility distance) even whentraffic is free flowing. In these embodiments a categorization scoringrange of 1-12 may be used, with 1 being a low score (e.g., light traffic(low speed) or poor visibility) to 12 being a high score (e.g., highertraffic (high speed) and good visibility). The result of the adjustments121 is an estimate of the number of unique vehicles capable of seeingthe target vehicle within the travelled distance.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for providingroute recommendations which maximize visual impressions of a vehicleduring travel to a specified destination. As noted above, the mobiledevice application 136 in vehicle A 136 sends GPS location latitude andlongitude, and time/date data 137, to receiving API 138. In response,receiving API 138 inserts this information into a database table forvehicle A 140. Leveraging this data flow, the mobile device application136 can request 141 a route recommendation from a route recommendationAPI 142. The recommendation API 142 requests 143 a merge of data 144 ofvehicle A GPS, and time/date data 140, with 145 segmented traffic volumedata 146. Again, the segmented traffic volume data 146 is typicallyformulated from the segment mile table 149 and traffic volume data 150.

The platforms route recommendation API 142 allows for a map overlayshowing routes with the most impressions on the mobile deviceapplication in vehicle A 136. This provides the driver of vehicle A theability to identify and drive routes resulting in a higher of visualimpressions of the exterior messaging displayed by vehicle A. It alsoallows the mobile device application to message the driver routeinformation that maximizes impressions.

FIG. 7 illustrates a graphical representation of quantified visualimpressions associated with a set of vehicle. Once the number of visualimpressions that vehicle A has received from other vehicles has beendetermined as described herein, the resulting impression information maybe displayed in numeric form or charts in, for example, the mannerdepicted in FIG. 7. This enables system users to readily viewrepresentations, in multiple different forms, of the visual impressionsassociated with a particular vehicle (e.g., vehicle A) over a particulartime period. In addition, the of sum visual impressions associated withmultiple vehicles (e.g., vehicles A, B, C, D), whether such multiplevehicles are parked or travelling routes, may also be presented inmultiple different visualization formats.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example only, and notlimitation. Where methods described above indicate certain eventsoccurring in certain order, the ordering of certain events may bemodified. Additionally, certain of the events may be performedconcurrently in a parallel process when possible, as well as performedsequentially as described above. Although various modules in thedifferent devices are shown to be located in the processors of thedevice, they can also be located/stored in the memory of the device(e.g., software modules) and can be accessed and executed by theprocessors. Accordingly, the specification is intended to embrace allsuch modifications and variations of the disclosed embodiments that fallwithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded assoftware that is executable on one or more processors that employ anyone of a variety of operating systems or platforms. Additionally, suchsoftware may be written using any of a number of suitable programminglanguages and/or programming or scripting tools, and also may becompiled as executable machine language code or intermediate code thatis executed on a framework or virtual machine.

In this respect, various inventive concepts may be embodied as acomputer readable storage medium (or multiple computer readable storagemedia) (e.g., a computer memory, one or more floppy discs, compactdiscs, optical discs, magnetic tapes, flash memories, circuitconfigurations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays or other semiconductordevices, or other non-transitory medium or tangible computer storagemedium) encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one ormore computers or other processors, perform methods that implement thevarious embodiments of the disclosure discussed above. The computerreadable medium or media can be transportable, such that the program orprograms stored thereon can be loaded into one or more differentcomputers or other processors to implement various aspects of thepresent disclosure as discussed above.

The terms “program” or “software” or “code” are used herein in a genericsense to refer to any type of computer code or set ofcomputer-executable instructions that can be employed to program acomputer or other processor to implement various aspects of embodimentsas discussed above. Additionally, it should be appreciated thataccording to one aspect, one or more computer programs that whenexecuted perform methods of the present disclosure need not reside on asingle computer or processor, but may be distributed in a modularfashion amongst a number of different computers or processors toimplement various aspects of the present disclosure.

Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as programmodules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally,program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Typically the functionality of the program modulesmay be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

Also, data structures may be stored in computer-readable media in anysuitable form. For simplicity of illustration, data structures may beshown to have fields that are related through location in the datastructure. Such relationships may likewise be achieved by assigningstorage for the fields with locations in a computer-readable medium thatconvey relationship between the fields. However, any suitable mechanismmay be used to establish a relationship between information in fields ofa data structure, including through the use of pointers, tags or othermechanisms that establish relationship between data elements.

Also, various inventive concepts may be embodied as one or more methods,of which an example has been provided. The acts performed as part of themethod may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments maybe constructed in which acts are performed in an order different thanillustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, eventhough shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.

All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood tocontrol over dictionary definitions, definitions in documentsincorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the definedterms.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in thespecification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to thecontrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”

The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in theclaims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements soconjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some casesand disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with“and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” ofthe elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be presentother than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause,whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified.Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when usedin conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer,in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other thanB); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionallyincluding other elements); etc.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should beunderstood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. Forexample, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall beinterpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, butalso including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and,optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated tothe contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of” or, when used inthe claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactly oneelement of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or” asused herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusivealternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded byterms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or“exactly one of” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims,shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “atleast one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should beunderstood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more ofthe elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including atleast one of each and every element specifically listed within the listof elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the listof elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally bepresent other than the elements specifically identified within the listof elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether relatedor unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as anon-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “atleast one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) canrefer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including morethan one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements otherthan B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally includingmore than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionallyincluding more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including morethan one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.

In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitionalphrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,”“containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are tobe understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limitedto. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consistingessentially of” shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases,respectively, as set forth in the United States Patent Office Manual ofPatent Examining Procedures, Section 2111.03.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for estimating visual impressions ofvehicles having exteriors configured to convey messaging to occupants ofother vehicles, the system including: a plurality of vehicles whereineach of the vehicles are configured with exterior graphic messagingassociated with a product or service; a plurality of mobile devicesassociated with the plurality of vehicles, each of the plurality ofmobile devices including a GPS receiver and a mobile device applicationcooperatively operative to determine information relating to mobility ofthe vehicle; a gateway API to which is posted vehicle mobility datagenerated by the mobile device application of each of the plurality ofmobile devices; a database storing traffic volume data in associationwith a plurality of road segments; and a computational platformincluding a processor and program code which, when executed by theprocessor, causes the processor to, with respect to each vehicle of theplurality of vehicles: identify, using the vehicle mobility data, one ormore of the plurality of road segments in which the vehicle was present;estimate, using the traffic volume data, a number of potential visualimpressions of the vehicle within the one or more of the plurality ofroad segments; determine an estimated number of visual impressions bymodifying the number of potential visual impressions in accordance withan environmental filter wherein the environmental filter relates atleast to an anticipated visibility of the vehicle to other vehiclespresent within the one or more of the plurality of road segments;generate visual impression information based at least in part upon theestimated number of visual impressions; provide the visual impressioninformation for display by a display device.
 2. The system of claim 1wherein the mobility data includes data specifying locations of theplurality of vehicles at associated times.
 3. The system of claim 1wherein the program code further includes program code causing theprocessor to, with respect to each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles:determine, based upon the mobility data, sets of road segments traversedby the vehicle; determine the number of potential impressions usingportions of the traffic volume data corresponding to the set of roadsegments.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherein the program code causing theprocessor to determine the estimated number of visual impressionsincludes program code causing the processor to determine a relationshipbetween a speed of the vehicle within the one or more of the pluralityof road segments at a given time and a free flow speed of traffic withinthe segment at the given time.
 5. A method for estimating visualimpressions of a vehicle configured with exterior graphic messagingintended for viewing by occupants of other vehicles, the methodincluding: receiving, from an API gateway, vehicle mobility dataincluded within wireless signals generated by a mobile device configuredwith a GPS receiver and a mobile device application cooperativelyoperative to determine information relating to mobility of the vehicle;storing traffic volume data in association with a plurality of roadsegments; identifying, using the vehicle mobility data, one or more ofthe plurality of road segments in which the vehicle was present;estimating, using the traffic volume data, a number of potential visualimpressions of the vehicle within the one or more of the plurality ofroad segments; determining an estimated number of visual impressions bymodifying the number of potential visual impressions in accordance withan environmental filter wherein the environmental filter relates atleast to an anticipated visibility of the vehicle to other vehiclespresent within the one or more of the plurality of road segments; anddisplaying visual impression information based at least in part upon theestimated number of visual impressions.
 6. The method of claim 5 whereinthe mobility data includes data specifying locations of the vehicle atspecified times.
 7. The method of claim 5 further including:determining, based upon the mobility data, a set of road segmentstraversed by the vehicle; determining the number of potentialimpressions using portions of the traffic volume data corresponding tothe set of road segments.
 8. The method of claim 5 wherein thedetermining the estimated number of visual impressions includesdetermining a relationship between a speed of the vehicle within the oneor more of the plurality of road segments at a given time and a freeflow speed of traffic within the segment at the given time.
 9. In asystem including a plurality of vehicles having exteriors configured toconvey messaging to occupants of other vehicles wherein each of thevehicles are configured with exterior graphic messaging associated witha product or service and a plurality of mobile devices associated withthe plurality of vehicles, an impression estimation system forestimating visual impressions of the plurality of vehicles, theimpression estimation system comprising: a gateway API to which isposted vehicle mobility data generated by a mobile device application ofeach of the plurality of mobile devices wherein the mobility dataincludes data specifying locations of each of the plurality of vehiclesat associated times; a database storing traffic volume data inassociation with a plurality of road segments; and a computationalplatform including a processor and program code which, when executed bythe processor, causes the processor to, with respect to each vehicle ofthe plurality of vehicles: determine, based upon the mobility data, aset of road segments traversed by the vehicle; estimate, using thetraffic volume data, a number of potential visual impressions of thevehicle within the set of road segments; modify the number of potentialvisual impressions in accordance with an environmental filter whereinthe environmental filter relates at least to an anticipated visibilityof the vehicle to other vehicles present within the set of roadsegments; generate visual impression information based at least in partupon the estimated number of visual impressions; provide the visualimpression information for display by a display device.
 10. In a systemincluding a plurality of vehicles having exteriors configured to conveymessaging to occupants of other vehicles wherein each of the vehiclesare configured with exterior graphic messaging associated with a productor service and a plurality of mobile devices associated with theplurality of vehicles, an impression estimation system for estimatingvisual impressions of the plurality of vehicles, the impressionestimation system comprising: a server configured to receive vehiclemobility data generated by a mobile device application of each of theplurality of mobile devices; a database storing traffic volume data inassociation with a plurality of road segments; and a computationalplatform including a processor and program code which, when executed bythe processor, causes the processor to, with respect to each vehicle ofthe plurality of vehicles: identify, using the vehicle mobility data,one or more of the plurality of road segments in which the vehicle waspresent; estimate, using the traffic volume data, a number of potentialvisual impressions of the vehicle within the one or more of theplurality of road segments; determine an estimated number of visualimpressions by modifying the number of potential visual impressions inaccordance with an environmental filter wherein the environmental filterrelates at least to an anticipated visibility of the vehicle to othervehicles present within the one or more of the plurality of roadsegments; generate visual impression information based at least in partupon the estimated number of visual impressions; provide the visualimpression information for display by a display device.
 11. Theimpression estimation system of claim 10 wherein the mobility dataincludes data specifying locations of the plurality of vehicles atassociated times.
 12. The impression estimation system of claim 10wherein the program code further includes program code causing theprocessor to, with respect to each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles:determine, based upon the mobility data, sets of road segments traversedby the vehicle; determine the number of potential impressions usingportions of the traffic volume data corresponding to the set of roadsegments.
 13. The impression estimation system of claim 10 wherein thecomputational platform is included within the server.